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Jephthah's Sacrifice 118 TORCH TRINITY JOURNAL 6 (2003) JEPHTHAH’S SACRIFICE: NATURE AND SIGNIFICANCE FOR TODAY James P. Breckenridge * INTRODUCTION Jephthah’s vow is one of the most interesting and problematic of all Old Testament passages. It is also one of the most controversial, and not only between conservatives and liberals or inerrantists and non- inerrantists, but among conservatives/ inerrantists there is wide disagreement. Nor is this, as some might think, a merely technical matter to be debated over and hair-split by egg-headed scholars. On the contrary, this debate may actually go right to the depth and roots of God’s forgiveness and the power and efficacy of Christ’s blood to remit sins. This debate also illustrates a very important point about such debates in general about any Bible passage, that is, the same biblical evidence or proof-text can be used by different sides to support or arrive at opposite conclusions. 1 The word, phrase, verse or passage which one protagonist uses will be used by his adversary to demonstrate a completely different or even opposite position. In such cases, it becomes harder for the exegete to separate truth from falsehood. It is somewhat easier if the two sides are using different verses to support conflicting views. In such cases, the exegete can examine each passage cited and decide for himself whether the passage is being used in its proper sense to support the writer’s intended conclusions. However, if both sides us the same verses but take them in opposite ways, the exegete must go deeper and decide for himself which is the most valid based on the principles of word studies, exegesis, and context, and must rely on the Holy Spirit’s guidance as he does. *Rev. Dr. James P. Breckenridge, PhD, is Full-Time Lecturer of Old Testament and Chief Librarian at Torch Trinity Graduate School of Theology, Seoul, Korea. He is currently serving as Pastor of English Ministry at Bundang Central Church in Bundang, Korea. 1John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, The Bible Knowledge Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Victor, 1985), 402. JEPHTHAH’S SACRIFICE 119 Judges 11:29-40 is one such passage about which the foregoing discussion is true. The debate about Jephthah’s vow is one in which the theologians who would otherwise agree on almost everything may take opposite sides. Conversely, those who would not normally agree on much of anything may come to the same conclusion, though perhaps for different reasons and with different opinions about the significance of their conclusion or the spiritual lessons to be gained from it. The different reasons used to support the various conclusions, and the various and far-reaching ramifications of those conclusions, will hereafter be explored. CONTEXT A brief examination of the context of the passage will be an important basis of whatever conclusions one may draw on this matter. Jephthah is a Gileadite and the son of a harlot who is thrust out by his half-brothers because of his mother’s status. Jephthah flees, dwells in the land of Tob, and becomes the leader of a band of worthless men. When the Ammonites invade Israel, the men of Gilead negotiate with Jephthah to lead them in their struggle against Ammon. This is done on the condition that Jephthah will be their head if he is victorious. Jephthah then corresponds with the king of Ammon. Both claim rightful possession of Gilead, with Jephthah listing several detailed reasons that the rightful claim over Gilead belongs to Israel. Neither party will yield, and all-out war is inevitable. It is at this point that the passage, which this paper will examine in detail, begins. The Spirit of the LORD comes on Jephthah and he makes a vow. The content of the vow is that if the LORD will deliver the Ammonites into Jephthah’s hand, “Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering” (Judg 11:31). That is the content of the vow, which Jephthah makes, and that is the center of the controversy over this passage. After this vow, Jephthah went into battle against the Ammonites, the LORD gave him the victory, and he returned to his house. When he returned to his house, the first one out of the house to greet him is his daughter (whose name is not given), his only child. She comes out to meet him in a dance of celebration. He tears his clothes and expresses 120 TORCH TRINITY JOURNAL 6 (2003) his grief to her. The tragedy of this event is almost overwhelming in light of the obviously tender love between father and daughter in both directions. Though the text does not say that he told her the content of the vow, it may be assumed that she was aware of it. She submits herself to his vow and asks that she be given two months to mourn her virginity with her friends. He gives her leave, and she goes into the mountains for two months, after which she returns to Jephthah. He does “with her according to his vow” (v. 39). It thereafter became a custom in Israel for the young women to lament Jephthah’s daughter’s virginity four days in a year, or possibly to praise her memory. 2 In either case, there was a four-day annual observance. The first half of the next chapter details Jephthah’s dispute with and victory over the Ephraimites. The story of Jephthah ends with his death and burial, and the fact that he judged Israel six years. Nothing more is said of Jephthah’s vow or of what he did with his daughter. He is not mentioned anywhere else in Scripture except Heb 11:32, in which he his listed briefly and without comment as a model of faith, which may also have some effect on how one interprets Judg 11. That is the whole of the biblical material on this man who is so interesting and colorful and yet so enigmatic and controversial. PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION OF THE ISSUE The central and burning issue in all this, and the dividing line between the two schools of thought on the passage, is the question: Did Jephthah kill his daughter? Those who answer this question in the negative will generally say that she, rather than actually being killed, was redeemed from death but consigned to perpetual virginity. It will usually then be presumed that she served out this vow as a servant at the tabernacle, which was then in Shiloh, in the tribal territory of Ephraim. For those who take the view that Jephthah actually killed his daughter, the task of working out the details is much simpler. Jephthah simply took his daughter’s life in accordance with his vow, and judged Israel for six more years before he died also. The problem which the advocates of this opinion face, however, is not in sorting out all the historical details, but rather in the theological ramifications of their 2C[arl] F[riedrich] Keil and F[ranz] Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament Vol. II, trans. James Martin (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1857; reprint, 1984), 387. JEPHTHAH’S SACRIFICE 121 position. This is especially true as the Mosaic law made no provision for human sacrifice, along with such verses as 2 Kings 17:17, as well as the fact that the new Testament lists Jephthah as a hero of faith. How does one reconcile such passages with a man who killed his own daughter because of his own foolish vow? Those who do not believer in the reliability of the Bible or in the sovereignty and consistent holiness of God may have no trouble with the issue. Yet evangelicals will have trouble, and either view is problematic. The only question is which view presents the fewest problems and is closest to the meaning of the text. COMMENTATORS’ OPINIONS Josephus This article will examine several opinions on the subject, generally in chronological order of the writers. The starting point will be Josephus, who stated: This action which was to befall her was not ungrateful to her, since she should die upon the occasion of her father’s victory, . he sacrificed his daughter as a burnt- offering, offering such an oblation as was neither conformable to the law nor acceptable to God.3 Several points are to be observed. First, it appears that, until the Middle Ages, opinion was virtually unanimous that Jephthah killed his daughter.4 Second, Josephus stated that Jephthah’s vow was not ungrateful (displeasing) to her because she was so pleased about her father’s victory. However, this does not seem to square with the biblical text, in which she mourns the effect of the decision for two months. It should be noted that she mourns not her death but her virginity. Third, Josephus states that Jephthah offered her for a burnt offering, which is of course the very wording used when Jephthah makes his vow in 11:31. In 11:39, Jephthah does with her “according to his vow,” so Josephus is stating the cased fairly in using these words. Finally, he notes that Jephthah’s sacrifice was not acceptable to God and in clear violation of the law. 3Josephus, The Antiquities of the Jews, 5.7.10. 4E.g., Keil and Delitzsch, 388; John J. Davis, Conquest and Crisis: Studies in Joshua, Judges, and Ruth, with a foreword by John C.
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